chapter 61: HOME ADDITIONS

We got a new chair from Parents Swensen! 

Desmond is modeling it's comfort and velvety texture. 

DELICIOUS cookie bomb! 

From our sneaky neighbor friends...

A new cuddly "Desmond" stuffy.

They are best of friends and like taking naps together.

Wifey likes taking naps too...

And we are enjoying the beautiful weather!

chapter 42: WHERE THE HEART IS

Welcome to our home!

chaper 38: VISITORS

This weekend we had a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad! I LOVE playing hostess... Gave me an excuse to completely clean and organize our new house, getting it ready to be shown off and ooh'd and ahh'd. We are very proud of our little abode.

We got mom hooked on a new scrabble app for her iphone {she's a word genius} and helped dad get his all-time high score on Halo: Reach. We also went out to a lovely breakfast at the Boise-famous Goldy's {mmm... hello blueberry pancakes}, and went on a blustery bicycle ride.

Here for only about 24 hours, we sent them on their way Monday afternoon.

We love having visitors so please.... visit us! Look us up if you are in the neighborhood and need a place to stay. We can't wait to welcome my sister and her adorable family to our home next month on their way to Washington. Boise is the perfect rest-stop.

chapter 32: FRESH AND CLEAN

How to transform a bore of a chore into hassle free glee!

Step 1: pick out your least favorite chore.

Easy, laundry. Don't get me wrong, I can find the joy in everything just like the next guy; the warm cozy feeling of soft hot towels out of the dryer.... folding everyting just so and having empty laundry baskets. All the good, however, was disastrously overshadowed by the fact that I had to go all the way down to the basement with my heavy baskets, fork out an entire roll of quarters, and at the end, pull damp cold clothes out of the dryer. I then would have to hang the "dry" clothes from every possible hook or shelf in my small apartment. I despised doing laundry. Enter stage left: the apartment hunt.

We looked for a new apartment for lots of previously mentioned reasons, but a BIG one for me was having a launtry room {quarter-free}.

Step 2: Actively persue change.

We moved into our new apartment last week and yesterday was the first day I have done laundry. Four full loads awaited me... taunting me... staring. me. down. I waked down the hall {!} and entered my very own laundry room. Four loads done in just a few hours. Free - Warm - Dry. A dream come true. I folded it all and put it away so that when Husband came home, he would be oh-so-impressed. You can believe I gave him a complete tour of the fabulous laundry room {which he had already seen many times, of course} and all the warmcleanfoldedputawayclothes.

FABULOUS FOOTNOTE.

All of this wouldn't have been possible with out my handsome handy-man husband. He lifted, carried, plugged, re-wired, screwed in, and completely installed our wahser and dryer all on his own {okay... I was there for moral support, the handing of tools, and attempted lifting}. He does it all and it runs like a dream!

chapter 27: MOVIN' ON UP

500 square feet to 900 square feet

dirt in our entry way to full back yard

hallway entrance to a real front door that leads to outside

fighting co-op shoppers for street parking to 2-car garage

6X6 basement storage space to full-size basement

$6.00/load coin-op laundry to our very own washer and dryer in a laundry room

squished living room to spacious hardwood floor living space

potted plants on the window sill to raised box gardens for vegetables

busy apartment building to a house

Needless to say, we are taking one more step up in the world.

We are MOVING! {down the road}

My apartment search consisted of these qualifications, which {thank you very much} have all been met:

Close enough for Ben to ride his bicycle to work and school. check.

Remain in our ward boundary because we love our ward and callings. check.

Enough space for everything we own, plus room for 3 more years of growth. check.

A dogs-and-cats-allowed policy. double check.

Washer and dryer hookups. check.

Within our budget. check.

This weekend is our big {and hopefully final until Ben graduates from BSU} move. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we will be packing our entire apartment and moving it about 5 blocks away to a new pretty house.

Hip Hip Hooray for us! Pictures to come.

{and thank you to all those who have volunteered to help us in this large feat.

We love you and need you.}

Here is a layout of our old apartment, just in case you didn't get a chance to visit.
{it's cozy... that's Ben and I snuggling on the couch.}

*smile*

chapter 12: HOMEMAKER IN TRAINING

What a failure of a first try.

From the thrift store, my soon-to-be-mother-in-law found a bread maker for the future bread making escapades of Benjamin and I. Tonight, after listening to our grumbling tummies... we decided to try it out. Benjamin was laying on the couch, valiantly completing his homework assignments while I trudged forward in the kitchen.

{Failure FIRST} The recipe required 1 tbs of cocoa powder. I picked up the cocoa tin only to, seconds later, drop it all over the floor when the lid wouldn't give.

{A note for the reader: cocoa powder is ridiculous to pick up. The broom doesn't get it all and really, just moves the powder around until 90% of it is up your nose. So then you decide to get it wet which just turns it into chocolate, which is even more difficult to mop up.}

{Failure SECOND} With all of our packing/unpacking/organizing/sorting, I seemed to have misplaced the called for: bread flour. After searching for about 10 minutes in boxes and bags that have yet to be unpacked, Benjamin assured me that regular flour will do. Done.

{Failure THIRD} A necessary component for a bread maker is the spinny thing in the middle that mixes all the ingredients while you do other, more important things {like loving-on soon-to-be husband handsome man}. After putting all the ingredients into the container, I realized... mine didn't have that important piece.

melt. down.

So many things going wrong already, I couldn't handle how difficult I had made this simple task. I didn't know what to do. My knight in shining armor held me tight, calmed me down, and solved it. We'd drive to mom's house and borrow hers. Nothing to worry.

We drove the 15 minutes out to Meridian, got the bread maker, visited, drove home, re-added all the ingredients and prepared to start the machine. Success! I went over to the original bread-maker with all the first used ingredients, reached my hand inside and... felt... the important piece...

JUST SITTING THERE.

MELT DOWN NUMBER TWO.

Benjamin, back to the rescue
"Don't worry babe. We'll have two loaves and it will be great. I love bread. We'll eat bread."
{Love him.}

concerns. why are they so squatty? why was one completely hard and disgusting and one was decent? why do people use these? It's the oven, next time, for me!

chapter 7: THESE TWO HOUSES

Benjamin and I are anxiously awaiting the day we get to live in the same house. Having two apartments to jump back and forth to and from gives us both a headache and hunger pains. If we buy food and leave it at Ben's, it goes bad and vice versa. If the food is at my house, we find ourselves at Ben's, etc. Making food and grocery shopping has been a struggle for us for this reason and others so our food selection has been a bit frightening at times.

The time: 11:37 PM

dark outside. many already sleeping.

The tummies: empty

rushed schedules had resulted in skipped meals.

late work shifts brought us together at a late hour.

With the bare minimum and food storage to work with, we put together this glorious feast:

{chili, chocolate pudding, macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs}

It was pretty good and Benjamin even made the pudding oh-so-fancy for our dessert!

What a talented fiance I have.

{pudding is my favorite!}

*we ended that night feeling happy, creative, full, and a little sick*

{combination not recommended for readers at home}